


Coalescence

by TK_DuVeraun



Series: Power Couple AU [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drama, F/M, Idiots in Love, Romance, pining still somehow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-24 05:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14348859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TK_DuVeraun/pseuds/TK_DuVeraun
Summary: Fox and Ela have finally stopped being stupid. Sorry, I read that wrong; Fox and Ela continue to be stupid while also being in a relationship.Sorry, this is the softest possible M you can imagine. No smut here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to [Trepidation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14286318), but a _direct_ sequel to [Flicker and Flame](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14339595) the smutty interlude that came after Trepidation. If you are of age and enjoy smutty things of the f/m variety, please check it out!.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Elashorei Lavellan belongs to Varg ([elalavella](https://elalavella.tumblr.com/)) please check out her cool, cool content! 
> 
> Through May 1st, I'm doing a giveaway on tumblr for a fake wiki page for your OC. [Check it out.](https://tk-duveraun.tumblr.com/post/173020933154/first-of-all-yallve-gotta-be-real-disappointed)

A bird was chirping far too loudly outside of the tent. Ela was warm, which was nice, but Tanithil was laying on her arms, so she couldn’t move. That wasn’t  _ too _ bad. Ela’s dream had been… Fantastic. She felt her cheeks heating up just from remembering it. Her mind had provided images,  _ graphic _ images, of what it might be like if Fox returned her feelings. She wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye for  _ days _ . Bad enough that she’d woken up clinging onto him the morning at the inn. He had to know about her ridiculous infatuation already, but…

Ela tried to shift Tanithil off. Better to move before Fox woke up to find her pressed against him. Again. She pulled on her arm and froze. That was  _ not _ Tanithil against her arm. Firstly, Tanithil could never manage to get under her blanket while she was camping. Secondly, what was touching her bare arm was  _ not _ cat fur. Thirdly, her arm shouldn’t have been bare in the first place and if it was, and it was, it should have been cold, even in the cocoon of her blanket.

Alternatively hot and cold, Ela slowly tried to separate her arm from Fox’s. However, the slight movement disturbed him and he made a quiet sound before stretching his hand out and resting it on her waist. Which was how Ela realized that she was  _ completely naked _ under the blanket. Her eyelids snapped open so quickly they ached.

There, wrapped up in both of their blankets, close enough that they were breathing the same air, was Fox. His braid was loose, red hair framing his face sweetly. And Ela had caused that. She’d been the one to pull on his braid when his mouth moved against her.  _ It happened. It really happened. What do I do? Oh no. This is a disaster. _

Ela tried to pull away, but in her panic she accidentally kicked Tanithil, who had been sleeping between their legs and her traitor of a cat meowed loudly before walking up Fox’s side. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion as Tanithil stabbed Ela in the back by headbutting Fox awake. 

“Mmm, morning Tanithil,” Fox said. His voice was  _ deeper _ with sleep and that alone was enough send shivers down Ela’s back. He blinked his eyes open and they were  _ so blue _ and so close. Then Fox  _ smiled _ and it took his entire face: the wrinkle in his brow smoothed while others formed around his eyes, and then his  _ dimples _ \- “Good Morning Ela. No aches?”

“No!” Ela tried to say, but it came out as a squeak. She swallowed. “About last night, before the, uh,  _ before, _ when I said that I loved you, I was just talking about, we’re friends you know? I love all of my friends. Bull, Sera, the inquisitor-”

Fox interrupted her with the lightest touch on her cheek and his hand felt like  _ fire. _ Even worse, moving his arm like that had shifted the blanket and revealed his bare torso and it wasn’t  _ fair _ . He shouldn’t have such tan skin and firm muscles when he sat in a cobweb-filled library reading books all day. He said, “Are you sure talking is what you want to do right now?”

Before she could think better of it, Ela closed the gap between them and kissed Fox hard on the mouth. Because no, talking was not what she wanted to do. She anchored herself with a hand on his shoulder, which was just  _ unfairly _ warm and she couldn’t keep herself from squeezing it in her hand, because it had just the right amount of give. Even as she was clinging to him and gripping his shoulder, Fox pulled her in by the hand on her waist and then they were pressed together and Ela felt her whole body blush because the feel of him against her made her remember  _ all _ of the things they’d done the night before.

Fox splayed the fingers of his free hand on across the center of Ela’s back and used it to pull Ela forward as he leaned back and it was obvious just what was going to happen next. And then something spooked the harts, who shouted loud whinnies while stomping their hooves.

Fox pressed a last, quick kiss to Ela’s lips before pulling away and climbing out of their combined bedrolls. “We’d best get up and back to Skyhold. There are things I’d like to do with you that require a proper bed.”

Thankfully, Fox didn’t look back at her before leaving the tent to deal with their mounts because Ela was  _ surely _ purple with blush. Once she was alone, she covered her face with their blankets, still warm from Fox’s body, and screamed into the muffling fabric, then inhaled the smell of him, and screamed again. Then she heard the sound of Fox’s laugh through the thin canvas and screamed again. Whatever silly thing the harts were doing needed to stop because Ela couldn’t take the wonderful sound of his laugh right then. Once most of her anxious, twisting energy had been screamed out, Ela grabbed her cold clothes and pulled them on while still under the blankets.

Tanithil rudely wove his way between her feet when Ela stood and started trying to pack up their things.  _ Their _ things. Ela almost screamed again and made doubly sure that all of  _ her _ things were in  _ her _ bags and all of  _ his _ things were in  _ his _ bags. Despite everything that they’d done the night before, she was not going to start making assumptions and letting her mind run away with silly, romantic ideas that she’d thought she left behind in her childhood.

As she tore down the tent, Tanithil sat and stared at her in his smug, cat way. He clearly wanted her to acknowledge his help in getting them together. She glared at her cat. “Don’t you act smug and cuddly now, asshole. You’re no help at all. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Because apparently everything hated her, Tanithil climbed into Fox’s saddlebag, curled up on his blanket and proceeded to purr loudly.


	2. Chapter 2

The winter air was cold and the wind cut into any skin not covered by leather. Surely Fox was colder, with his light, barely-more-than-robes armor, but Ela couldn’t check. She couldn’t look at him, could barely  _ speak _ to him, because everything was a sharp, static reminder of the night before. If she didn’t keep herself distracted, she could still feel Fox’s hands and mouth on her and that was far too distracting even just for riding on a well-behaved hart and speaking of riding, Fox looked so noble and prim riding just ahead of her and-

Ela groaned and covered her face with her hands. Nowhere was safe to look, least of all down at her lap because that just brought up images of Fox’s head between her legs and- She wasn’t going to survive the ride back to Skyhold, especially since every time she closed her eyes she could  _ see _ him naked and- Ela cut the thoughts off before she was going to have to scream again. It was all too much.

“Are you okay, Ela?” Fox asked. His tone was  _ so _ sincere and there was that sad crease between his eyebrows. He slowed his hart until they were riding abreast.

“Fine! I am fine. Completely and utterly fine,” Ela said.

Fox looked baffled for a moment before laughing. He smiled at her. “You’ve been having some trouble holding conversation today. Should I take my clothes off? You didn’t have difficulty last night.”

That was it. Ela was going to kill him. Right there. With her glare. That or the fire from her face would make him spontaneously combust and it was just  _ not fair _ that he looked and sounded so wonderful when he laughed at her reaction and she didn’t know if she wanted to punch or kiss his stupid, handsome face. With a harumph, Ela pointedly looked away from him and instead focused on stroking her hart’s neck.

Like she’d told him, the only experience she'd had with sex before hadn't been…  Great. There wasn’t any point comparing Fox as a person to Sornir. Fox was brilliant and gorgeous, intelligent and professionally schooled and trained. Refined and noble and a little arrogant, but Ela didn’t mind it when he supported it with kindness and skill. But she couldn’t help but compare them as lovers. By the Void, she could hardly even call Sornir a lover, after his pathetic showing. It was no wonder she hadn’t understood why some women wanted sex so much.

If she’d known it was supposed to feel like  _ that _ she would have put much more effort into finding a partner. A  _ partner. _ She almost choked just thinking the word. She and Fox weren’t partners. She’d be lucky if he still agreed to fight at her side. He probably thought she was a silly, infatuated, little girl. He probably only did… those things to make her stop acting weird. When they got back to Skyhold, he’d probably tell everyone what happened and how she’d-  _ No, he doesn’t gossip. Even though he was just doing it to calm me down, he’d never tell anyone else about it. _

As much as she tried not to think about it, Ela’s mind kept returning to the night before and just how many people Fox had to have slept with to become so skilled with his… appendages. Ela blushed and hid her face with one hand and wished the ground would swallow her up. It had felt  _ so good, _ but it was so embarrassing. She wanted it again, but her mouth dried up just thinking about trying to figure out the words to ask. Ela bit her tongue and kept her eyes down and tried not to die of shame while they traveled.

When they made camp, Ela let him set up the tent while she put all of her attention on the campfire and heating up their food. He sat down far too close to her to eat his share, so as soon as Ela had stuffed everything in her mouth and swallowed the lot, she stood up and brushed off the crumbs. She cleared her thought and said in all one breath, “I’m really tired and I’m going to sleep now, goodnight.”

Then she dashed into the tent and nearly changed her mind. The bedrolls were pressed together, but that meant nothing; there wasn’t space to have them separated. The first problem was the blankets. Instead of one blanket carefully laid on each one, both were spread across the length, with a single corner turned down invitingly. The second problem, the  _ worse _ problem, was that her lamp was hanging from the tent roof, the soft, blue light illuminating everything. Looking at Fox brought back the memories, yes, but she’d spent weeks staring at him and had plenty of other memories to smother the intimate ones with.

She’d never  _ really _ stared at the lamp until she realized, in the midst of everything, that the lamp glowed brighter when Fox was… Enjoying himself. And it was rather bright. They weren’t even doing anything. He wasn’t even looking at her and it still-  _ Oh, oh. _

Ela slipped out of her armor and under the blankets, slightly chilled, even with her cotton underclothes, but she turned her face down, away from the light and willed herself to fall asleep quickly. But it was no use; both of the blankets smelled like Fox. Some metallic, iron scent that came with lightning magic, some cat, which wasn’t sexy, by any means, just very… comfortable. Normal. He smelled like home and Ela was a complete fool and very thankful he couldn’t read minds. They’d only just started whatever this was; he wasn’t allowed to smell and feel like home.

She was still tossing and turning when Fox entered tent and shucked off his own paltry armor. Despite how he’d arranged the blankets, Fox laid very pointedly on only his bedroll and even put his back to her, as he had all of the nights on the way down. Ela had only a moment of hesitation before turning off her mind and holding him tightly from behind. Fox simply put his warm hand over hers before relaxing into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love them too much.


	3. Chapter 3

The fourth night outside of Denerim, Ela kissed Fox next to their campfire and hesitantly walked him backward into their tent. She’d been expecting a repeat of their first night together, not for it to be so different. It was just as good, maybe better, since she knew what to expect, at least a little. She wasn’t as shocked or overwhelmed by raw sensation, wasn’t held still by her fears of doing something wrong or embarrassing herself. But it was difficult to really judge when Fox spent the entire encounter  _ talking. _ Whispered promises of what they would do in a real bed, searing compliments about her abilities as a fighter and gentle proclamations of how  _ happy _ he was to finally share this with her.

It was all too much, but Ela wasn’t going to stop him, not when his words felt almost as good as the  _ other _ use of his mouth. When they were done, Ela held onto him tightly, pressing her cheek against his sweaty chest. She could feel each beat of his heart gently calming down all of her charged emotions. Ela said nothing. She didn’t want to ruin it, didn’t want to make Fox change his mind and pull away, leaving her cold and alone.

She woke before him the next morning, dressing and seeing to their mounts the way Fox usually did. All of that time she spent calming her twisting emotions. She didn’t want to hide away from him when she could instead take the opportunity to learn more about him and share some of the scattered parts of herself that no one ever bothered to remember. She rarely opened herself up and every time she had, she’d been rewarded with nothing. Her heart ached with how much she wanted to believe Fox would be different.

Given how Fox had bought almost no meat when he resupplied, she had a feeling she was right. For the first time, she didn’t shy away from his casual good morning kiss and managed to hold a conversation despite her shyness, even if it was stilted at times. Fox beamed as brightly as the sun at her every time she spoke and she had to keep looking away. More than once, he would move his hart up next to hers and reach out just to touch hands, just for that little connection while they rode. It made her chest hurt with how much she enjoyed it. 

That night, they simply held each other and exchanged soft kisses that lead to nothing more than Ela’s heart feeling fit to burst. After that, when she settled her head under his chin, her bashfulness seemed so silly and pointless. She had nothing to gain from staying at arm’s length and so much joy to have if she let him in. Ela never suspected it would be the sexless intimacies that made her fall- feel, made her  _ feel, _ so secure with a lover.

But they did.

\----

Two nights out of Skyhold, while sitting quietly by their campfire, Ela took Fox’s right hand in her left, lacing their fingers together. Their sides were pressed together, but not to fight off the cold, mountain air. Fox had cast some kind of spell on the camp that kept it slightly above freezing. No, it was just… to feel close. It wasn’t familiar yet, but it was  _ comfortable. _

“Fox?”

“Hmm?” Fox responded. He turned his head and casually brushed his lips against her cheek.

Ela’s breath caught in her throat and she fought down the urge to stiffen and pull away. The thoughtless way he so easily showed his affection was still difficult to accept at times. “What are we?”

“Fighters. I suppose we’re part of what the Orlesians are calling the Inquisitor’s ‘Inner Circle.’” Fox shrugged. 

“That’s not what I meant. I meant,  _ us _ , as in, together. Just us,” Ela said. She turned her face away to hide the blush.

“We’re lovers,” Fox said, his voice even and factual as if it wasn’t something monumentous. “I would rather the exclusive sort. I prefer to focus my attention on one person that truly matters.”

Ela turned her face around and pressed it into Fox’s shoulder. It did nothing to help her blush and less to help her find words to say, so she just tucked in under his chin and squeezed his hand.

He chuckled, squeezed her fingers back and then stroked her hair with his free hand. “Is that really so surprising, Ela? That I might care so much?”

“Now you’re just doing it on purpose,” Ela said, her voice muffled by his robes.

“A little,” Fox said. He put just the tips of his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up to look her in the eyes. “But it’s also the truth. With you, I hope that things go in a rather permanent direction.”

Ela bit her bottom lip and fought back the sudden, intense urge to cry. It was so stupid. She was  _ happy; _ she didn’t want to ruin this beautiful moment with crying. While her emotions roiled in her chest, Ela tilted her head until Fox’s hand was holding her cheek. “I- Yes, That is- Yes, I want that.”

Fox leaned in and their mouths met softly. His thumb stroked her cheek and even though their hands were simply  _ holding _ each other and their mouths stayed chastely closed, Ela felt it in every part of her. Even her toes tingled from sheer depths under the quiet intimacy. Tears fell from her eyes anyway, but Ela didn’t care. Fox had pulled her out of a bush there was no reason she should have fallen into and he was still there. He could take it.

Even as she thought that, Fox pulled back enough to kiss the wetness off her cheeks. Ela shook with contained emotions released his hand so she could squeeze him in a tight hug and press her face into his neck.

Fox tilted his head until it rested against Ela’s. He whispered warm words into her ear. “This is the first time I’ve wanted so much with someone. There was once, before… But that was like a dream. This is a real possibility.”

Ela just squeezed him tighter and then closed her eyes firmly. “Can you just  _ stop _ talking? You’ve done enough talking. No more talking.”

“Perhaps we’d best go to our bed, then.”


	4. Chapter 4

Just before Skyhold’s gates, Fox pulled his hart up next to Ela’s and gestured for them to stop. He held out his hand and curled his fingers around hers. His expression was soft and kind. “Nothing will change for me when we go through that gate, but I have responsibilities to catch up on. I’ll be busy, at least through dinner, with Ivan and the others. I trust them to care for the children, but some things still need to be run through me.”

“Right. Of course.” Ela squeezes his fingers tighter than she meant to, but she didn’t want to let him go.

Fox leaned in closer to her, his expression suddenly serious. “Will you come to me tonight? May I find you in the gardens?”

Her heart clenched in her chest. Ela swallowed the lump in her throat. He was asking her, nearly begging, to have her with him. It was  _ her _ choice. Sornir had just  _ assumed _ there would always be a next time. Not only was Fox  _ asking _ her, he wasn’t asking for sex. He’d made it clear over the last two weeks of traveling that he was more than happy just to lay next to her. And it wasn’t with words. It was through his actions and the wonderful glow from his lamp.

Unable to immediately find words, Ela nodded. But that didn’t seem to be enough, Fox was still staring plaintively at her, so she said, “I’ll come find you, but if it’s late, you know where I’ll be.”

Fox kissed the fingers of his gloves and then pressed them into her palm. He smiled at her, far brighter than the sun was through the clouds. “Tonight then, dear one.”

The endearment crackled across Ela’s skin and she felt faint for a moment. After pushing past the feelings, Ela coaxed her hart into a brisk walk and followed behind Fox into the fortress. Fox gave her a quick kiss in the stables, but otherwise hurried to tend to his duties. Ela stood there, fingers on her lips, staring in the direction he’d gone like it’d been their first kiss.

Cheeks slightly flushed, Ela took her time brushing down both of their harts before picking up her bags and taking them back to her quarters, meagre as they were. Even though it was still winter, the temperature was mild inside of Skyhold’s walls. Ela left her boots at the foot of her bed and simply sat in her spot at the edge of the gardens enjoying the midday sun. She had her eyes closed and was basking when she was tackled from the side.

“Elalala! You’re back,” Sera said. “I thought Red and Crazy was gonna eat you or something out in the mountains.”

Ela laughed and grinned, but then thought about other possible implications of those words and turned fuschia down to her collarbones. Her voice nearly cracked, but Ela managed to say, “We had a perfectly fine trip to Denerim and back.”

“Oh, you’ve got a secret!”

“Sera! It’s not like that,” Ela protested.

Sera gasped in her best mock betrayal. “You shagged him! You and Crazy!” Sera made a show of brushing herself off while pretending to gag. 

It was so over the top, Ela overcame her embarrassment enough to laugh. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“ _ You’re _ being ridiculous,” Sera replied. With a huff, she sat down next to Ela and kicked her heels against the ground while also looking up at the sky. “It was boring without you. Quizzy doesn’t like pranks the way you do. Guess we can’t play ‘em on Crazy anymore.”

Ela grinned. “I think we should play  _ more _ of them on Fox. He’ll love it.”

“Well if he likes it, what’s the point?” Sera groused.

Ela laughed and let Sera catch her up on the last month in the Inquisition. When the sun fell underneath the walls, they headed into the Herald’s Rest and ate up in Sera’s room. She lo- liked spending time with Fox: talking and… being physically intimate, but it was nice to spend time with her friend again.Tanithil was out and about, probably grooming Fox’s barn kittens and teaching them the ropes. She’d found him loitering outside of Fox’s bedroom door enough times to be certain her friend would find her when he was ready.

She managed to escape Sera’s company with only minimal teasing. Skyhold at night could hardly be considered dark, certainly not after weeks of camping in the rough, but Ela still made certain to collect her magic light before walking through the castle and down into the lower levels. Fox’s bedroom had once been a storage cupboard behind the kitchens, which kept it warm during even the coldest winter storms. She suspected that he would use Frost magic to keep it cool in other seasons, so even though it lacked windows, it was rather nice.

The door was open a crack when Ela approached, so she pushed it slowly open. Just inside, Fox was crouched in front of a broken crate filled with a litter of kittens. Most were black and white, but there was a single orange tabby in the mix. Fox was petting the proud momma cat on the head and whispering to her in what might have been Tevene or might have been magical gibberish. She’d never actually seen him use his magic to charm cats; Tanithil liked him without it.

Fox didn’t look back at her, but he held out his hand and pulled Ela in when she took it. “Look, dear one. They’re so tiny.”

A laugh bubbled it’s way out of Ela’s chest. “Yes, that’s what happens when they’re just born. They’re tiny.”

Absentmindedly, Fox turned and kissed her on the cheek, before going back to stare at the little animals. “Apparently Momma picked my room on her own. Cole brought the box and old horse blanket in.”

“Cole’s a good kid.”

“Mmhmm,” Fox replied. He scritched the mother cat under the chin. “I wish he wasn’t so worried about a mage binding him, but that’s neither here nor there.” Fox rose to his feet, pulling Ela with him. For a moment he simply stared into her eyes as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks rather than just a few hours. Ever so gently, he brushed his bare fingers over Ela’s cheek before leaning in to kiss her.

Ela felt weak in the knees when he pulled away and she pulled him back in for another before speaking. “Sera… Knows. About us.”

“Okay,” Fox said slowly. “I don’t see a problem with that; she’s your friend, of course she would know, but your expression tells me there  _ is _ a problem.”

“She’s going to- Well, you know, tell people.”

“Would you rather we kept it secret? I’m afraid I’m not very good at it.”

“No,” Ela said, frustration coloring her pale skin. “But aren’t you even a little… embarrassed?”

“Of course not,” Fox replied without the slightest hesitation. With the wrinkle between his eyebrows he looked positively confused. “You’re a powerful, skilled and graceful warrior. Not to mention beautiful beyond any words I can think of. I’d shout it from the battlements if that wouldn’t bring us both unpleasant attention.”

“How can you just  _ say _ such things?”

“It’s always easy to speak the truth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fox is too sweet.


	5. Chapter 5

Long before dawn, the cooks put soft, fluffy dough in the ovens to bake for the day’s bread. Not that Ela could hear them. Fox’s spells really did deafen the room to outside noise. It was just that she could smell the bread baking and while that usually would have been  _ amazing _ ,  at that moment it just made her want to scream in frustration. And not even the embarrassed frustration she’d felt waking up the first morning after sex with Fox. No, this was worse because she  _ hadn’t _ slept. She wasn’t waking up; she was  _ still awake. _

She lo-  _ enjoyed _ sleeping next to Fox. At least, she’d thought so until five minutes after he fell asleep in his proper bed. It was supposed to be perfect. His room was warm, there was plenty of space for Tanithil to sleep on the foot of the bed and even the momma cat with her kittens weren’t a problem. What  _ was _ a problem was Fox himself. Because he  _ would not lay still. _ He hadn’t elbowed her in the face, but his constant shifting and rolling over made it impossible for a light sleeper like Ela to get a wink of sleep.

And not for lack of trying. She had shifted over to the edge of his bed, hoping his movements would jostle her less, but he’d just ended up next to her and continued the nonsense anyway. Tanithil had lasted only twenty minutes before abandoning the bed and joining the kittens and their mother in the box on the floor. Traitor.

So there Ela was: awake all night after traveling all day and serving as pillow for her lover as he affectionately rubbed his face into her shoulder and kicked his legs for absolutely no discernible reason. It had been sweet the first time her put his arm around her waist, but when he kept releasing her and then grabbing her again it made sleep impossible.

He hadn’t been this way on the road. He’d laid perfectly still next to her, sometimes holding on in his sleep, but never this restless motion. Ela could only assume this was his natural state and she was doomed to suffer it for the rest of her li-  _ relationship. _

Just when Ela decided to shake Fox awake so she could get  _ some _ sleep, his shifting turned purposeful. His arm around her waist tightened and pulled her in close. Though he didn’t open his eyes, he put his face under her chin and nuzzled her before kissing his way up to her normally-sensitive ear. “Good morning, dear one,” he said, but for the first time, his sleep-deepened tone and the rough edge to his voice was not endearing.

“I’m going to run you through with my sword if I don’t get some fucking sleep,” Ela said, her own voice nearly a growl. She purposefully stiffened in his arms.

Fox, the bastard, just continued to nuzzle her. He even gave her waist a gentle squeeze. “Mmm, I could tire you out, if you’d like.”

With both hands, Ela forcibly shoved Fox away. She glared at him, but there was no heat in it, especially not when he was looking back at her with his eyes half-lidded and that delicious smirk on his face. Ela crossed her arms over her chest. “I am plenty tired. If you’re going to keep me awake, I’d rather you do it in other ways.”

After a short pause, Fox smiled and gestured for her to come closer. Even knowing he just wanted to kiss her didn’t stop Ela. She was cross, yes, but not  _ that _ cross, so she leaned in and let him kiss her. It was a warm, lazy kiss, like so many they’d shared on the journey back from Denerim and Ela felt her irritation start to melt away. On Fox’s small, side table, Ela’s lamp glowed with a piercing blue light that only brightened as Fox cradled her face like the most precious thing he’d ever touched.

“My lips were made for yours,” Fox said between kisses. “I’m so glad you let them meet.”

“Fine, I forgive your terrible sleeping habits; just go away and let me sleep now,” Ela said once she could bring herself to pull away.

Fox nuzzled her face again before pulling away and getting out of his bed. “I’m sorry I kept you awake, dear one. Honestly, I’d forgotten it was an issue; it’s been so long since I shared a bed with someone in safety. I regret to inform you that there’s no cure for it. Apparently, I throw off the effects of sleeping draughts.”

“You’re lucky no past lover stabbed you in your sleep.”

“Well, about that…”

Ela stared at him. “You’re joking.”

Fox pulled up his undershirt and gestured to a long scar on his side. “I may have deserved it.”

“That’s insane,” Ela said.

“I  _ am _ from Tevinter.”

Ela pulled the blankets over her head. “Fucking shems.”

His only response was to give her a warm chuckle. He took his time dressing, occasionally reaching over the bed to touch her covered arm, which was sweet, but also keeping her awake. 

Eventually, he lifted Tanithil out of the box and placed him on the bed next to Ela. The gangly cat walked in a tight circle, kneaded the bedding and then curled up at her side. Then she heard Fox speaking that same gibberish as the night before to the momma cat and her kittens. Contented mrows and a chorus of tiny mews came from the box and Ela was nearly as charmed as the cats. Bastard. She  _ wanted _ to be cross with him. She was tired.

Finally, he came around and sat on the edge of his bed next to Ela. When she lowered the blankets, he leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss. “There are things I promised we’d do in this bed once we got back. And we’ve not much time before the Inquisitor wants us to leave for Adamant Fortress. I’ll do my best to ensure you’re rested enough.”

“You’re a menace, Fox.”

“I do my best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Coalescence, but there is still more Power Couple AU stuff written that will be posted eventually (tm). Look out for it!


End file.
